


random girl

by stealthyninja



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, Good Babysitter Steve Harrington, Missing Scene, Stranger Things 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:47:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26143600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stealthyninja/pseuds/stealthyninja
Summary: steve and the kids work out a plan on how to lure a monster on the loose.
Relationships: Steve Harrington & Dustin Henderson, Steve Harrington & Lucas Sinclair, Steve Harrington & Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Steve Harrington & The Party
Comments: 4
Kudos: 47





	random girl

**Author's Note:**

> based on the scene in 2.06 where lucas and max meet up with steve and dustin, and i've honestly just always wanted to know what else went down once they're all gathered at the junkyard. and so i predict... chaos ensued
> 
> as always, i'd love some feedback!!! <3

Steve was proven wrong into thinking Hawkins could ever go back to normal from the moment Dustin confessed about his cat getting eaten by a tiny demogorgon, right before his very eyes. Based on what Steve gathered from his story, it's the exact same species of creature he had fought in the Byers house almost a year ago, except it's much smaller and walks on all fours like a dog. And apparently is suitable as a pet and likes cats as snack.

Nothing in Hawkins will ever be the same...

...including Steve's crew: he went from hanging out with two of the biggest assholes he's ever met to planning on killing a supernatural monster with a bunch of nerds at the old junkyard.

Steve leans against the hood of one of the abandoned cars, wondering about what his life has come to; giving Dustin, Lucas and.. little miss redhead.. some time to catch up before they get to work.

"I still can't believe you managed to drag him into this!" It's true, Lucas is still in a bit of shock.

Turning to Dustin, the teen raises an eyebrow. "What, you've been planning on setting me up as the next meal for that nasty slug of yours?"

" _Demogorgon!_ You literally fought one a year ago!" Dustin flails his arms around. "And based on my observation, he's clearly in his fourth stage of evolution so it's nowhere near a slug anymore. Get with the program, Steve!"

Steve is worried that the kid never even denied nor confirmed his suspicions. "Oh, I'm sorry, I don't speak nerd." He says sarcastically, then gesturing at the random redhead. "You haven't even answered my question, who is this random girl?"

Dustin's face turns sour, looking down at his feet. "It's a long story." Then he turns to Lucas like he's only remembering that he's right there with them, then to the redhead. "Wait, what's she doing here?"

"It's a long story." Lucas mocks him, but frowns once he sees the flare in Dustin's eyes. "What? At least I'm not the one with the weird amphibian obsession!"

"And I'm not the one putting the party at risk by telling our secrets!" Dustin yells with a matching stomping foot.

Steve rolls his eyes and sighs. Why is these two always at each other's throats? They're possibly the reason why he's not going to want to have children.

"Listen, I'm not buying your little fantasy creature story so you can keep it." Ah, so the random girl who somehow got mixed up with the twerps can speak. "I mean.. I was almost convinced, but then I remembered that I wasn't stupid."

That's it, Steve's had enough. "Hey-"

"So you told her everything?!"

"Listen-"

"The hell I did, and I don't see why it matters when she's one of us now!"

"Jesus-'

"Says the guy who went berserk when Mike wanted to keep a girl in his basement!"

Steve's going to explode. "HEY, ASSHOLES!" The teen yells, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "I don't have all day and the sun's going down! We've got shit to do so my main goal is to not just sit pretty but if you want to keep acting like brats and get eaten by the demo-whatsoever, then be my guest and I'm out of here! Got it?"

Dustin looks like he's been punched in the guts. "Shut up, Steve. You would never do that!"

Looking away, Steve sighs. Sure, these kids are annoying and arguing all the time and Steve doesn't know why they'd somehow willingly put their lives in his hands and barely knows anything about them except that all of them are gathered at the junkyard for a reason and that they have to follow his orders, but letting them out of his sight and leaving them to wander off on their own? _Never._

Steve would _never_ want innocent lives to be taken away, harmed, filled with nightmares. He would _never_ want them to have to go through what he's been through. He would _never_ admit it, but he's ready to lay his life on the line for them the way that he did for Nancy and Jonathan if it meant keeping them alive.

"Then do as I say. Got it, shitheads?"

The kids let out a sigh before a moment of silence takes over them. Steve takes it as a yes.

"Who is _he?_ " The redhead breaks the silence, looking Steve up and down as if observing if he's a bad nut or not, though Steve is so sure that he's never seen a girl hang around with the nerds before. Can girls even be nerds?

"This is Steve Harrington, honorary member of the party, and he's going to be helping us out on our mission to kill the demogorgon on the loose." Dustin explains like that's the most normal thing to say. If it was someone outside of their little monster hunting gang, they would have thought he had a few loose screws.

The girl lets out a scoff. "You hired a babysitter to read you bedtime stories and fight the monsters hiding under your bed? Real cute."

Steve rolls his eyes; today's going to be a long day with the kids around. In his humble opinion though, he thinks this girl's got some spunk and that her comebacks are hilarious. She's like his mini-me. They're just two jocks stuck with a bunch of nerds. "Are you done?"

"Steve," Lucas changes the topic. "What's the agenda?"

The teen looks down at the dump of meat next to him. "This is the bait for that thing. We're leaving a trail of gasoline that leads to this spot so once it arrives, we're immediately setting it on fire." Steve points at the abandoned bus, "You see that piece of junk? That's where we'll be hiding and until I make sure that the coast is clear, nobody's allowed to come out. Be quiet but be alert. We stay close as a group so if one of you dipshits decide to run away and end up as monster meal, you're dead. And then I'm dead because your parents are gonna kill me, got it?"

The kids look so impressed! Steve definitely became a pro since that night at the Byers' house. Who knew that the trauma from last year would make him such a good leader?

"You're the coolest!" Dustin says with a toothy grin. "Can we name it Millennium Falcon?"

Steve frowns. "No idea what that is."

"I take back what I said about you being cool. You're lame, Steve!"

"Your asses wouldn't be here if it wasn't because of me!"

━━━━━━━━

Steve has been so preoccupied with lifting and stacking metal sheets, with the help of little miss redhead, that he hasn't noticed Lucas and Dustin sneaking behind one of the abandoned cars, most likely to continue their heated argument and jump down on each other's throats. Again.

"What are we using these for?" The girl asks, putting one of the sheets aside as she's been told.

"To shelter the bus." Steve wipes the sweat dripping down his forehead. "We don't want to be attacked while thinking we're safe inside so protection is important."

"That makes sense." The girl shrugs, looking over at the teen. "Hey. Steve, right? I'm Max, by the way."

Finally! "I'll keep that in mind, random girl."

"Have you always been involved?"

"What do you mean?"

"The idiots." There's no malice in Max's words, though. "Is one of them your brother?"

Steve releases a soft chuckle. As an only child, he's always wondered what it's like to have a sibling. Probably a lot of headache, so maybe, he'll pass. "Yeah, no. I can't say I'm friends with them, but I guess I'm only here to make sure they won't die."

"So... it's all true?" Max's curiosity keeps peaking as time passes. "It's not a story that Lucas made up just to impress me?"

Impress?! Steve wonders how head over heels they are for this girl. That's something. "Uh, I don't know if they limit the number of people that they trust enough to tell about the.. you know.." He makes a gesture, hoping she will get what he's trying to say, because explicitly talking about it still gives him the creeps. "But yeah, it's true. And our lives would've been so much better if it wasn't."

However, Max still seems skeptical. "Like, how? Where did it all come from? I thought those kind of creatures only existed in horror movies?"

"I wish, kid." Steve hands another one of the sheets over to Max. "Beats me, and I don't think I ever want to know anyway." The girl puts aside the material and goes back to her spot. "I don't think I've seen you before. You new here?"

"Yeah and, I don't know, somehow got roped into this.. supernatural stuff, if what you're saying is true."

Steve shrugs. Even he himself doesn't want to believe the supernatural shenanigans going on in this town, he wishes it was all just a bad dream that he'll wake up from one day. Then he remembers something. "Hold on. You know Billy?"

"Step-brother." There's bitterness in the way Max spoke those words, and it doesn't go unnoticed. "How do you know him?"

Steve feels bad that someone as cool as Max is, somehow, related to someone as despicable as Billy. "Kicked my ass in basketball which was kind of upsetting, but you know what, it's okay. Maybe it's just not meant for me, you know?"

Ouch. Now Steve doesn't know if he meant his relationship with Nancy - if there was even one to begin with - or being treated unfairly by Billy especially during basketball, but he's not about to go down the walk of shame with a thirteen year old girl.

"I think it's best that you stay away from him."

Steve frowns. "Are you warning me?"

"No!" Max quickly shakes her head. "I mean... he just likes to get on your nerves, that's all. Thinks he's the shit and owns the place. It's normal, but annoying."

Steve can tell there's a hidden meaning behind her words, but he's not going to press. "Remind me later to write that one down."

The girl lets out a small laugh. "You know, I think its nice of you to be helping them out. You're probably thinking, 'oh, why am I doing this? I should be doing actual teenage stuff right now! Partying! Kissing girls! Doing homework! Being cool somewhere!' But here you are, still choosing to watch over them, trying to fix a garbage bus to keep them safe in."

Okay, that's a bit too real but come to think of it now, Steve wouldn't have it any other way. He might get laughed at for spending a whole day with the nerds, but that's the beauty of it - no one has to know. They're a lot... better than Tommy H. and Carol, they're chaotic but decent and curious, and they actually look up to him and admire him for doing what he does instead of prodding at his every move and bringing him down every chance they got.

Maybe kids aren't so evil after all.

Steve rolls his eyes, but he's smiling. "Them, what do you mean them? You're here too, shithead."

"Seriously! You'd make a really good big brother, Steve."

"Unless the little siblings turned out to be twerps just like you..."

"Then I'll just have to agree that you're a loser."

Before Steve can open his mouth to protest, he notices that there isn't much time left. "Yeah, whatever... instead of hurting my ego, how about we get back to work?" Then he looks around, notices that nobody has been talking his ear off or insulting his hair for the past few minutes. It's pretty odd. "Speaking of the twerps? They're dead to me."

Eventually, Steve finds Lucas and Dustin casually chatting behind an abandoned car. Max laughs as she watches him boss them around. 

━━━━━━━━

Three kids and one teen step back as they admire their finished work, giving themselves a pat on the back for a job well done. The renovated bus isn't the prettiest sight at the junkyard, but as long as it will provide each and every one of them safety, that's all that matters.

Luckily, the kids followed Steve's orders and weren't irritating the whole time. Probably because he promised to take them to the arcade and feed them fast food once the craziness is over. They just couldn't say no to such an offer and can't wait to get this over with already!

"See kids, this is what teamwork is all about!" Steve says with pride, hands on his waist.

Dustin pouts. "I wish Will and Mike were here to see this."

"Maybe you can tell them all about this piece of junk when we're back, yeah?" Steve gives a friendly smile, clapping the kid's shoulder for comfort. He's been wondering where the other two are, but he's hoping they're not up to no good like luring a monster whose location is currently - and terrifyingly - unknown.

"Yeah, they're totally going to lose their shit!" In fact, Lucas already is.

Max sighs. "Are you sure this is going to work?"

"Why not?" Steve asks, not ignoring how concerned she looks.

"Because.. I don't know.." The girl looks down, but looks back up quickly. "Are we going to be okay?"

Dustin steps in. "Of course, we're going to be okay! I've got candy bars in case of emergency. They were supposed to be for Dart, but can't feed him if he's missing."

Even though candy bars are the least of his worries right now, Steve can't help but chuckle. "Yeah, kid, he's right. We're going to be just fine."

"How can you be so sure...?" 

The nailed bat makes an appearance in Steve's mind. "There's nothing I can't handle."

Max rolls his eyes, but she's smiling. "That better be true, babysitter. I don't want to buckle up for a barely existent adventure."

"What are you shitheads waiting for?" Steve gestures towards the bus, awaiting their grand entrance.

As the sun begins to set, yellows and oranges filling up the view, they head inside of the bus which will serve as their safe haven. At least for now.

Steve Harrington is going to make sure that these kids will make it out alive.


End file.
